Fuel theft in the UK is expected to rise as the average price for filling up a family car reached £100 on Thursday.
The latest research by the British Oil Security Syndicate (Boss) showed a 14.6 per cent increase in the number of incidents in which people did not pay for fuel during the first quarter of 2022, compared to the last quarter of 2021.
Claire Nichol, executive director at Boss, predicts theft will continue to increase due to rising prices.
“If the current trend continues, we expect to see losses from forecourt fuel crime soaring above £100 million per annum,” she said.
“When prices began to rise during early spring, we saw an unusual spike in incident reports.
“Overall reported incidents are 37 per cent higher in Q1 2022 than they were in Q1 2021.
“Yet again, more motorists are claiming to have no means to pay for fuel. It is more than an occasional excuse and is by far the largest type of unpaid fuel incident being reported to Boss. Drive-Off incidents are also rising, up nearly 50 per cent during the last 12 months.”
The overall cost to the industry of drivers making off without paying is estimated to be in excess of £100 million, up from £88m in 2019.
Drivers who fail to pay for fuel can be charged with theft, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and an unlimited fine.
However, figures obtained by Crown Oil revealed 99 per cent of these crimes do not result in a prosecution.
Pressure on the government is building to cut the fuel duty again after the price spike on Thursday.
Motoring organisation the Automobile Association declared “enough is enough” while the Royal Automobile Club said it was “a truly dark day” for drivers.
Figures from data firm Experian show the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached a record 182.3p on Wednesday.
That means the average cost of filling a 55-litre family car is £100.27.
The average price of a litre of diesel on Wednesday hit 188.1p.
Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association, has demanded a 10p per litre cut in the fuel duty and called for a fuel price stabiliser to lower the duty when pump prices rise and increase it when prices drop.
“Enough is enough. The government must act urgently to reduce the record fuel prices which are crippling the lives of those on lower incomes, rural areas and businesses,” he said.
“A fuel price stabiliser is a fair means for the Treasury to help regulate the pump price, but alongside this, they need to bring in more fuel price transparency to stop the daily rip-offs at the pumps.
“The £100 tank is not sustainable with the general cost-of-living crisis, so the underlying issues need to be addressed urgently.”
Royal Automobile Club fuel spokesman Simon Williams said the 5p duty cut enacted in March “looks paltry” as wholesale petrol costs have increased by five times that amount since.
“A further duty cut or a temporary reduction in VAT would go a long way towards helping drivers, especially those on lower incomes who have no choice other than to drive,” he said.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out further cuts.
“We made a cut already … the biggest cut ever in fuel duty,” he said.
“What I want to see is those cuts in taxation not just swallowed up in one gulp, without touching the gullet of the fuel companies. I want to see those cuts having an impact on the pumps.
“And we are watching very closely to see what happens.”
Mr Johnson said many companies “don’t want to just take profit — they do have a sense of responsibility, but we need to see it”.
Downing Street indicated on Wednesday that fuel retailers failing to pass on the 5p duty cut could be named and shamed.
On Thursday, many forecourts were selling petrol and diesel above £2 per litre.
Price comparison website PetrolPrices reported that about 50 sites on UK motorways or major A roads are charging 202.9p per litre.
Pump prices began to soar after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February led to oil supply fears.
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
The specs: 2018 Maserati Ghibli
Price, base / as tested: Dh269,000 / Dh369,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 355hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.9L / 100km
Syria squad
Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Alma, Mahmoud Al Youssef, Ahmad Madania.
Defenders: Ahmad Al Salih, Moayad Ajan, Jehad Al Baour, Omar Midani, Amro Jenyat, Hussein Jwayed, Nadim Sabagh, Abdul Malek Anezan.
Midfielders: Mahmoud Al Mawas, Mohammed Osman, Osama Omari, Tamer Haj Mohamad, Ahmad Ashkar, Youssef Kalfa, Zaher Midani, Khaled Al Mobayed, Fahd Youssef.
Forwards: Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah, Mardik Mardikian.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
